Koudelka
 |
Koudelka |
Koudelka is a
Computer role-playing game for the
PlayStation.
Hiroki Kikuta, most known for composing the music to
Secret of Mana and
Seiken Densetsu III (also known as
Secret of Mana II) while working at
Squaresoft, created Sacnoth in
1997 with funding from the video game company
SNK. Unhappy with what he considered as the disjointed, juvenile, and stagnant nature of most
RPGs, Kikuta had intended to take the genre in a whole new direction. Koudelka was to be his
magnum opus, the game that would show the world just how far RPGs could go.
Koudelka received poor critical reviews and little word of mouth. It was also released near the end of the original
PlayStation's lifecycle, with more interest being shown in upcoming Playstation 2 and
Dreamcast games at the time. Additionally, it was soon revealed that internal quarrels within Sacnoth had led to a compromised product. Kikuta had wanted to develop an action-based battle system, citing
Resident Evil as a source of inspiration. However, his employees were adamant about releasing something closer to the kind of games that Square had been making.
Most people agreed that the game showed some promise, but had serious flaws, particularly in the combat system. Kikuta resigned after the financial failure of the game, disheartened by the political friction within Sacnoth.
Aruze Entertainment eventually took control of Sacnoth after SNK folded.
The initial plot of the game centered around 3 investigators coming to Nemeton Monastery in
Wales in the year 1899: Koudelka Iasant, a young girl with supernatural powers; Edward Plunkett, adventurer; and Father James O'Flaherty, sent by the
Vatican to recover a special tome of knowledge. It is likely that Edward Plunkett in the game is modeled after the historical
Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron Dunsany. The monastery was used as a prison in the
1700s, and more recently as the site of a dark ritual from the stolen document, the Emigré Manuscript, that Father O'Flaherty seeks.
The style of the game was a composition of
survival horror games such as
Resident Evil, and tactical RPGs with a grid-based system for combat. The game was fully voice-acted, and starred
Vivianna Bateman as Koudelka,
Michael Bradbury as Edward, and
Scott Larson as Father O'Flaherty. The game also featured several
FMV cutscenes which were critically lauded as being high in quality, and were part of the reason for the game's four-disc length, despite its rather short playing length.
Although the game mechanics differ, Koudelka's successor is the
Shadow Hearts series on the PlayStation 2. Koudelka,
Roger Bacon and the Emigre Document are actually central to the plot of Shadow Hearts, and one playable character is blood related to several Koudelka characters.
*
Shadow Hearts*
Koudelka at
MobyGames*
Shadow Hearts Net: A fan maintained Shadow Hearts forum, also features discussion for Koudelka.
